The university publicly announced its capital campaign in April after quietly raising $94 million. The goal is to raise $120 million by 2015 to support UTSA's efforts to become a top research institution — a Tier One university.

Though dairy farmers Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker never finished college, Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker was very specific in her desire to find cures for various diseases, said Banks M. Smith, one of the fund's trustees.

The private foundation was funded in part by selling a substantial portion of the couple's farm to the City of San Antonio for what now is Phil Hardberger Park, Smith said.

The fund has donated several million dollars to UTSA since 2007, as well as donating to the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and other entities, Smith said.

“Because (Minnie Voelcker) rarely left San Antonio, her farm was in San Antonio ... the trustees of the Voelcker Fund have decided to try to concentrate all of its gifting in the San Antonio area for medical research,” Smith said.

Eric Gentry, UTSA's associate vice president for development, said the gift is important not only for helping the campaign reach a milestone but for the impact it will have on the medicinal chemistry program.

“For us, the campaign is an investment in people,” he said. “It's an investment in our students. It's an investment in our faculty. It's an investment in the programs and activities that they run. We hope the campaign has a direct link with the city and South Texas.”